Search giant Google plans to buy 180 satellites to help hundreds of millions
of people get online

Google is understood to be investing $1bn in a fleet of satellites so that it can beam internet services across the developing world.

The move help hundreds of millions of people who do not currently have access to the web to get online - accelerating development and handing Google a huge, untapped pool of potential new users.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Californian web giant will buy around 180 satellites, designed to sit lower in the sky than many models.

The project is led by Greg Wyler, a satellite communications expert who founded the satellite startup O3b Networks, who reports directly to Google's chief executive and co-founder, Larry Page, according to reports.

His team will compliment Google's existing "Project Loon", which aims to connect parts of the developing world to the web using other sorts of technology.

Google's original plan under Project Loon was to use balloons to beam internet services around the globe. However, it is now expected to rely on drones, following Google's purchase of Titan Aerospace earlier this year.

Increasing online access in developing countries would offer a huge boost to economic growth in those regions, as well as improving education. However, Google is not acting entirely altruistically.

It wants to increase their growth potential by unlocking an untapped market, and to position itself as the entry point to the internet as the populations in those developing regions are forming their online habits.

Google is not the only technology giant racing to increase internet usage around the globe, however. Facebook is also seeking to connect developing countries through its "Connectivity Lab" scheme, and recently bought British drone manufacturer Ascenta to help provide the physical backbone of the project.

"It's easy to take for granted that most people have access to the internet, but only one third of the world, 2.7bn people, currently do," Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive said shortly after the purchase was agreed. "We're not on a path to connect everyone right now, unless something dramatic changes."

Meanwhile, Amazon is developing drones for delivering packages - though analysts predict they could eventually be used to help connect the world to the web as well.

Google declined to comment on its satellite plans, but a spokesman said: "Internet connectivity significantly improves people's lives. Yet two-thirds of the world have no access at all. It's why we're so focused on new technologies that have the potential to bring hundreds of millions more people online in the coming years.”